Sword and Snow

Emery stood on the top of the parapet on the huge Eastern Gate into Flowing Dragon City as instructed. There were all kinds of guards and Cultivators moving around her trying to make last second preparations for whatever was to come. Thankfully, with the helmet and scarf from her armor in her storage ring and wearing a cloak over the rest, she didn’t stand out much.

Evidently, the entire Deposits’ force was marching their way around the Peaks to the eastern side, following the main roads. Vyne was regularly tracking their movements now, hidden away in the small garrison just inside the walls below.

Knowing he was doing so also helped keep Emery’s spirits up. If even a single person deviated from the group, he would know. If someone tried to sneak into the Peaks and had the potential to reach the basin, he would know. The thought comforted her enough to keep her mind from wandering.

Her family was safe. At least until the confrontation began and Vyne would need to concentrate on what was in front of him. Or be in the air, since he needed to be in contact with the ground for his senses to work.

Instead of being nervous and worrying about her family, Emery was able to use the constant motion and excitement around her to keep herself alert and on edge instead, and she appreciated that. She could feel Avuri somewhat nearby as well, even if they weren’t actively connected at the moment, and that helped her stay grounded too.

All in all, Emery was feeling alright given their situation as she kept her eyes trained toward the horizon. Not that she could see any sign of the enemy yet, but they were surely not long off now. Different ways to approach her ‘show’ were on a constant loop in her head. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to play her entire role as a ‘Dragon Friend’ straight, eccentric, or maybe even just a little silly.

As Emery leaned on the battlements, she let out a small chuckle at the whole situation. She couldn’t escape how ridiculous it all felt. She was literally dressed up in what was essentially a costume, about to play up heroics as if she were in a stage play, and then potentially charge into battle like the Cultivator she actually was.

Some of that felt natural, but it was the details that kept making her laugh. She wasn’t just in a costume; she was in literal dragon scale armor, which was one of the most sought after equipment in existence. And the whole thing was expertly crafted and fitted to her.

She wasn’t just about to act heroic on a stage; she was about to proclaim herself one of the strongest Cultivators in the city - out loud and boisterous enough for hopefully the entire city and the enemy force to hear. And then follow that up with summoning dragons to their aid. Creatures that were so rare that it was normal for most Cultivators to live their entire extended lives without ever seeing one, and she was about to call six of them to aid in this battle. With the actual guarantee they would show.

It was absurd.

And then, if even that wasn’t enough, she would charge into battle - having declared that she was an unstoppable force of war - and probably make little to no difference in the outcome of a battle that would decide the fate of at least one, but most likely two, cities. Two of the most prominent trade cities on the continent, no less.

Tearing her eyes away from the horizon, Emery spun around to lean back against the wall, propped up on her elbows and staring at the sky. Again, the whole situation made her laugh. Even trying to hold back, her giggles drew stares from the passing Cultivators who surely saw nothing more than a woman, covered in an oversized rag, cackling to herself on the verge of a battle.

That thought actually comforted her a little. There were certainly plenty of people here preparing to fight that were actually borderline crazy. A ton of Cultivators were, after all. Not for the first time, she genuinely wondered where she and Avuri would fall on a scale judging someone’s level of insanity.

As Avuri’s presence danced at the edge of her awareness, she was reminded of the way they originally bonded their Domains, and the total nonsensical nature of their decision at the time, and decided that, yeah, they would probably rank pretty high. Even if they did their best to be loving, relatively normal mothers, there was no debating that they both had a fair bit of crazy in them.

Maybe that was a good thing though, she considered with a deep, steadying breath. If their special brand of insanity was about to help save an entire city then maybe it was worth it. She was already immensely proud of the work they had done in saving their kids, and that was surely a mark of insanity too.

As she continued to occasionally let out small bursts of cackling, she heard footsteps approaching.

“Nothing quite like the eve of battle to make you feel a little crazy, hm?” Vale asked as he settled next to her on the battlements.

More similarly to the Cultivators rushing around, Vale was dressed for battle. As a physical powerhouse, he opted for trim, tighter fitting clothing rather than the traditional flowing robes. A sleeveless vest showed off his muscular arms, but the rest of his body was hidden beneath only slightly loose pants and simple shoes. He didn’t look like a well-to-do Cultivator, but more like a sect member who was ready for diligent training.

And probably someone you wouldn’t want to run into in an alley at night. He was an intimidating sight.

“I just can’t get over how absurd this all turned out to be.” Emery said, spinning back around to look at the horizon with Vale again. “You know what’s about to go down, roughly. This isn’t just some fight we’re getting into. It’s a damn performance. A show.”

“Sure is.” He said, reaching over to ruffle her hair. “I’m sure you and Avuri both will play your parts to perfection.”

Emery rolled her eyes. “I’m not worried about that so much. It’s not like anything really goes wrong even if I screw up a line or something, unlike in an actual play.” She shrugged and chuckled. “If I bite my tongue while bragging about how awesome I am, it’ll be embarrassing I suppose, but I can actually just laugh it off.”

She glanced over at Vale’s calm smile. “Imagine a stage performer laughing in the middle of the play because they messed up and derailed the whole thing. I actually have that kind of freedom here, so it’s not so bad.”

“True.” Vale said, his smile turning into a grin. “If you mess up, you can just yell out to your friends for aid and we’ll show up and everything will be fine. Realistically, your part really is just for show. But don’t underestimate how useful your performance could be.”

Emery raised an eyebrow in question as he went on. “Sure, the real intimidating presence will be the aid you call for. But if you can really play it up and put on a good show, the entire enemy force will already be prepared for something to happen. If we can capitalize on that gap in their armor, it’ll make breaking their collective spirit all the easier.”

Emery scoffed. “If the difference between them surrendering and not is my performance, we were lost from the start.”

“It won’t be the difference, no.” Vale said honestly. “But it could be the difference between their surrender and a complete rout from the get go.”

“No way.” Emery waved it off in denial.

“You underestimate the power of a good show.” Vale laughed. “If you really manage to get under their skin and cause doubt to spread through their ranks, the impact of dragons arriving could be the straw that makes them retreat. Set up and presentation for a show like this is everything, my dear.”

Emery scrunched up her face. “I think you’re underestimating the impact six dragons will have. Once you all appear, no one will even remember the weirdo that claimed to summon them. At least not for a while.”

Vale actually laughed aloud at that. “I think you’re selling yourself short again.”

“Wanna put a bet on it?” Emery asked, her voice full of snark.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Chores for a month.”

Vale laughed again. “You’re on. But you really just want to keep me around for a month, don’t you?” He asked with a sly little smirk.

She did. “No. Want to bet something else? Say a dinner for the whole family at the Celestial Dragon Pavilion?”

Vale just shook his head with a chuckle. “I’ll take your wager, but I think you might regret it.” He said as he pushed off the wall. “They're going to be visible soon. I just felt Vyne’s Qi pulse as a warning.”

Emery collected herself and nodded. “Right.”

Vale’s hand landed on her shoulder in a comforting gesture with a satisfying thunk against her armor. As she was about to turn to him with a grin, he pulled her in for a hug. It was a tight squeeze and she could feel Vale kiss the top of her hair. “You’ve got this, Em. We’re all here to back you up, but you’ve got this.”

The suddenness of the hug and the fierceness in his voice nearly made Emery misty eyed. She blinked it back and hugged her father tightly.

“Yeah.” She said, her voice slightly trembling. Then she pushed Vale back with a half-hearted shove. “Now go get to your position.”

Vale snorted. “Yes ma’am.”

He was gone before she had a chance to berate him for the ma’am. She still wasn’t that old.

Avuri, Ieji, Mica, and Cove were playing mahjong in the garrison when Vyne’s signal went out. The mood in the garrison as a whole changed, as if a horrible premonition were finally coming to pass. Suddenly the air was filled with dread and worry.

“No point worrying about it.” Ieji said blithely. “Especially for us. Our turn isn’t until later.”

“Easy for you to say.” Cove said, discarding a tile. “Glenn and I are just here as half-baked bodyguards for you three, but even we can tell this is going to be an important event. No matter how it turns out.”

“History in the making, indeed.” Vyne said as he rounded a corner into the room. “Cove is right. No matter how today proceeds, this confrontation will shape many things to come.”

“Eh. Cities always rise and fall.” Ray said dismissively. “It’s not like we’re in any real danger with all of us here. And the people in charge of The Deposits always rubbed me the wrong way. This might be a good change if we remove them all.”

Guards and Cultivators kept rushing by and through the room, looking over the strange group of people in it. Despite all the stares, the passersby were all pretty easily ignored.

Avuri took her turn and discarded.Her mind wasn’t really focused on the game, nor on the conversation in the room. Her concentration was mostly focused on the connection between her and Emery, where she could feel her wife waiting atop the battlements. And the woman was bored.

“It seems like nothing’s happening yet.” She said, “Emery’s bored.”

“Better bored than in danger?” Mica tried sounding chipper. “On the other hand, she’ll be the first of us to see some excitement regardless.”

“At least we have a game to play.” Ieji said, sounding just as bored as Emery felt. Even as they declared a win. Cove sighed as he paid up, then collapsed onto the mat with the tiles.

“Can’t we do something else? We’ve been playing mahjong all morning!” he shouted.

“I’ll play for you.” Glenn offered. “Especially if you’re still the one buying in.”

As Cove whined more, Avuri felt her wife’s attention sharpen, and the connection between them solidified as their collective Qi spun up.

“They’re here.” Emery sang through their link.